Loadshedding forces Upper Dir residents to turn to mountain ice

Not only that, residents have also started making use of ice as a commodity, selling it in the market for money. As temperature has raged across the country in the fasting month of Ramazan, people have started making use of ice blocks from Lowari top to cool their water.

Blocks of ice from the mountain top has served as means of livelihood for people who climb all the way up to Lowari top and carry the ice blocks on their backs or carts down to the marketplace. A resident of the area revealed that he earned up to Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200.

The lack of electricity in the area has also forced people from adjoining areas such as Malakand, Mardan, Dargai, Batkhela and Sherghar to start collecting ice from Lowari top. Yet the process of collecting ice from the mountain top is a labourous one, considering the fact that one has to bring it down all the way on their backs. People are forced to sell ice due to poverty and non-availability of any other alternative.